Identity Crisis
by Hexalys
Summary: Waking up in a video game was messed up, but finding herself stuck in Yuffie's body was just plain insane. Not knowing what else to do, Faith tries to make things right with the help of her gaming knowledge. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Between saving iconic characters, messing with Shinra, and hiding a serious crush, getting back home is the last thing on her mind.
1. Changing Things

**Disclaimer**: Seriously? Meh, I do not own Final Fantasy nor anything sharing it's titles and characters.

Okay I read a few OC stories and decided to do my own, but with a twist thrown in. Let me state right now that the OC will not be a Mary Sue. The storyline will be slightly skewed obviously, and while I've noticed a more realistic theme among the battles in other FFVII stories, there will be game elements and logic involved here as well. Also, please note that there will be no slash. Pairings are undecided at this point for those of you who care as they will not be the main focus in this story. The rating is M mainly because of the OC's, Barret's, and Cid's foul language.

That said; please enjoy my tribute to the best game ever made!

~Identity Crisis~

Chapter 1: Changing Things

Deep in a forest near Junon, a small figure groaned as she slowly woke up, her head aching in ways she'd never thought possible. Faith struggled for a few minutes before managing to open her eyes, blinking at the harsh sunlight streaming down.

"Ugh, what the hell?" She asked to no one in particular, wondering why it was so bright since her bedroom didn't have a window. It took her only a second longer to realize that she wasn't in her bedroom, nor in her apartment, or even in the city itself. Faith stared wide-eyed, gaping at the forest surrounding her. "The fuck?" She breathed out in a whisper, not understanding how she'd gotten to this place. She tossed back her mind, trying to put the pieces together, only to come up with nothing.

She couldn't remember the last thing that happened to her.

It was a frightening experience to realize you had no idea where you are and with no memories to show for it.

Faith struggled to push herself up onto her feet, noticing that there was something thick and heavy weighing down on her left arm. It was, well, she didn't what to call it. It was like a gauntlet, but it only shielded the outside of her arm, covering her hand and extending all the way to a metal shoulder guard. She twisted her arm around, bending the strange gauntlet, and found it posed some resistance as it wasn't made from very flexible materials. Tan leather straps held it in place, and the odd arm-gauntlet itself was solid white color. Strangely enough, it didn't feel uncomfortable or out of place.

Now back on her feet, she found that the rest of her clothes were different too. Faith knew for a fact that she didn't own them either, as they made her feel very self-conscious. Her shirt was a green, sleeveless turtleneck jumper that left her midriff bare. She wore a pair of tan shorts that were left unbuttoned and unzipped. Embarrassed, she quickly fixed that problem, cursing a little as the arm-gauntlet got in the way. On her feet was a pair of orange sneakers that led into white leg warmers.

Investigating her outfit further, she found the arm-gauntlet was held in place via black straps that tied across her chest and around her back. For whatever reason, a short green sash was tied around the strap closest to the shoulder guard, trialing down the gauntlet and moving in the slight breeze. Some sort of mesh fabric, like the ones Goths wore, covered the lower parts of her right arm and left leg, while an additional piece of metal covered the rest of her left thigh, like a leg brace. To finish the ensemble, she had a pair of fingerless orange gloves that matched her shoes in color.

Faith fingered the strange clothes, an uneasy feeling building in the pit of her stomach. Shaken, she went to run a hand, her right one, through her hair, freezing instantly as she found that it was a lot shorter than it should be. '_Oh god, not my hair!_' She screamed mentally, stumbling forwards to look for anything that could show her reflection. Faith had never considered herself to be a vain person, quite the opposite really, but no girl enjoys waking up to a surprise haircut.

Fortunately, a small pond could be found some feet away and she staggered to it, feeling unbalanced. As she looked over the shore and peered into the water, a familiar face that wasn't hers' stared back. A scream broke free from her mouth as Faith landed on her backside, frantically crawling away from the water. '_Holy shit, holy shit, holy motherfucking shit!_' Her curse filled mantra continued for several minutes as she stared down wildly at her hands. No, not her hands, Faith corrected, Yuffie's.

Somehow, she looked exactly like Yuffie Kisaragi from Final Fantasy VII.

After a few minutes of panic, Faith finally managed to calm herself down. She looked back into the water, a large part of her hoping she'd just been seeing things, and let out sharp hiss at finding that she'd seen correctly the first time. She really did look like Yuffie.

"How the hell is this possible?" She asked her reflection, studying it. This situation was like the kind of stuff she'd read on FanFiction. At that thought, Faith gave a relieved chuckle and bonked herself on the back of her head. "Of course," she realized sheepishly, "this is just a weird dream." Happy to finally have things sorted out, Faith rose to her feet, admiring her appearance.

Yuffie was definitely in way better shape than she was. Faith wasn't overweight by any means, but she certainly wasn't the athletic type, though she had taken karate lessons for a few years in her adolescents. As she stretched Yuffie's lithe form though, she could practically feel the strength and energy humming through her limbs. Curious, Faith started doing some simple kicks that she could still remember. Her body, or rather Yuffie's, moved quickly and after twenty high kicks, Faith found she wasn't even the slightest bit winded.

For the next twenty minutes, Faith spent her time doing backhand springs, flips, cartwheels, punches, and kicks, enjoying how much skill she had in her dream. Her fun was cut short however as she heard a loud, bird sounding screech from above that left her ears ringing. Turning, she saw two Formulas flying straight towards her. She stared at them blankly for a few seconds until she realized that the monsters were attacking.

She gave a yell, turned tail, and ran back to where she'd come from earlier, hoping the numerous trees would slow them down. After all, if she could run away in the game, it would only make sense that it would work in her dream too. Those thoughts were soon dismissed as something heavy slammed into her, knocking her into the ground and leaving her breathless.

It hurt. As Faith gasped, struggling to push herself off of the ground, she realized that she wasn't supposed to get hurt. Not in dreams anyways.

_But that meant_–

Another shrill cry from above acted as her only warning, and Faith instinctively rolled to the left, dodging the second Formula and getting up unto her feet. She ran blindly, ducking and jumping over the attacks clumsily. Her body seemed to know what to do; it was her mind that kept screwing her over.

A sharp glint caught the corner of her eye and Faith spotted Yuffie's Shuriken resting against a tree. She changed directions and dove for it, picking it up with her right hand and getting into the battle stance Yuffie had used in the game. She'd thought the oversized weapon would feel heavy in her hand, but it was surprisingly light and her confidence grew. As she looked over the 4-point Shuriken, Faith saw that it was only equipped with the Throw Materia.

For all her boasting about being a great Materia Hunter, Yuffie clearly sucked.

As the Formulas closed in, Faith took aim and threw the weapon as hard as she could, much like she would a Frisbee. The Shuriken spun throw the air at an amazing speed, slicing at the monster before returning to her grip. She had to jump a little to catch it, and the hurt Formula retaliated with one of its impulse moves, ramming its' wing into her side. It hurt, but not as much as Faith thought it would. It was rather like taking a strong kick to the stomach, disorienting and aching, but it was hardly damaging enough to leave her unable to fight.

She threw the weapon again and it hit the previous Formula, making the bird-like monster cry out in pain. Faith gave a cheer as it started to disappear, absently noticing that something small fell from its fading body to the ground below. Game logic was clearly asserting itself here. The bad guys had always disappeared when they'd died, though Faith distinctly remembered them fading in a red color in Final Fantasy VII. Here they seemed to burst into green glowing particles that floated in the air briefly before disappearing.

It only took two more hits to kill of the other Formula, which also disappeared in a glowing haze, and she ran over to see what the monsters had dropped. It looked like some sort of money, Gil she guessed, and a Hi-potion from the looks of the blue bottle in her hand. Looking around, Faith spotted a normal enough burlap bag propped up on the other side of the tree where she'd found the 4-point Shuriken.

Picking up her winnings, Faith moved over to search the bag, finding that it had six Potions, a Hi-potion, one Ether, an Antidote, and a decent amount of Gil. There was also a thick metal bracelet that had thee circular shaped indents. Two of the holes were practically touching each other, while the other was set a few inches away. '_Huh, must be the Carbon Bangle Yuffie came equipped with when she joined Cloud's party. Why the hell didn't I have it on in the first place?_'

Shrugging her shoulders, Faith set the Bangle onto her right wrist, where it was a little loose. She moved it, not wanting it to fall off in the middle of a fight, and set it near her elbow. It was tight and a little uncomfortable, but she could deal since it gave her more Materia slots. Taking the money out, and depositing her newly won Hi-potion in to join the other vials, Faith began to count how much money she had.

In the end, and if she'd counted the odd currency correctly, then she had a total of 1,534 Gil. Faith knew it was enough to buy two different Materia, like Ice or Fire, from any nearby town. Faith was pretty sure she didn't have to worry about getting better armor since the Carbon Bangle was likely the best piece she could get her hands on at this point. As began to put her money back into the bag, Faith saw that her hands were shaking furiously. She'd like to say it was the adrenaline wearing off, but–

This was fucking real. She was inside a goddamn video game, posing as one of the games' characters, with no idea of how it happened or…

Or how to get back home.

Faith was pretty sure she blacked out after that thought, because she found herself slowly waking up some time later, her neck cramped and left leg numb. She sat there silently, massaging her aches, and wondered if she should be going insane at this point. Surely waking up in a fictional world would result in a mental breakdown, right?

She wasn't though. Oh sure, she'd freaked out at first and had then fainted not too long after, but right now she only felt worried and afraid. What about her family? Were her parents worrying about her? Would she ever see them again? What had caused this to happen to her?

Then again, maybe she'd already gone insane and this "being stuck in Yuffie's body" thing was actually all in her head. Maybe she was actually in a padded room right now, muttering nonsense to herself and the doctor assigned to her. If so, then why did her mind choose to make her Yuffie? Faith hated her character. The kid was a brat. Admittedly, she'd never forgiven Yuffie for stealing all of her hard earned Materia in the game.

Still, the question stood. Why hadn't she been made into one of the cooler characters, like Tifa? Aerith was obviously out since she died. Or maybe her first explanation had been right after all and she was stuck in a deep coma. Could all of this just be a very realistic dream? Faith doubted it though; her going insane seemed much more likely. Faith gave a tired sigh, eyes drifting to the sky above.

What she wouldn't give for some answers right about now.

"Hey! If this is some kind of cosmic joke you can knock it off now, I'm not laughing!" She shouted at the sky. She wasn't expecting a response, but it felt good to vent at something just the same. "What the fuck do I do now, huh? Pretend to be Yuffie?" Now that she thought about it, where was Yuffie? If this was real, then was the 'Great Ninja Yuffie' in her body, stuck on Earth? Faith shivered at that thought and hoped that wasn't the case. "What?! Am I supposed to do something here? Do you want me to change things, is that it?"

'_Hold on, maybe that's not such a bad idea._' She knew what was going to happen, she'd been playing this game all her life, memorized where to find all the Materia and weapons. She could avert so much shit from happening, and then maybe, if everybody got their happy ending, she could be sent home. The thought had merit, if nothing more she'd get to meet up with Cloud and the others. It's not every day you meet your favorite fictional character in real life.

Decision made, the only problem left was what to do now? She couldn't just stay here; Faith had no idea where she was. Finding a town would be best, then she could get a sense of the timeframe and see if AVALANCHE had already started taking out the Mako Reactors. If not, then maybe there was a chance she could save Zack.

~Identity Crisis~

It took more than a few hours of running around before Faith finally found civilization, which actually turned out to be Junon. The harbor city was freaking impressive, she'd give Shinra that, even if it was choking the life out of the small village underneath it. The Sister Ray cannon was ridiculously huge, and Faith had to resist the urge to run out on it. All she saw when she looked at it was the fight that Sephiroth once had with Genesis and Angeal.

Now that was one fucking epic scene.

She'd of course run into some monsters along the way. It hadn't been too bad since she'd lucked out with getting groups filled with three monsters or less, but Faith had ended up using one of her Potions and had run away more often than not. She'd suffered some bruises and scrapes, but nothing serious. She'd even managed to collect another Hi-potion and had earned an extra 500 Gil.

Faith guessed that she was at level fourteen at this point; but it was hard to tell since there was no level up screen at the end of her battles. She vaguely wondered if she could use Sense on herself to check out her stats.

Faith's first stop was the Materia Shop, where she bought a Restore, Fire and Lightning Materia. The Steal Materia was sold in Kalm and it cost 1,200 Gil. She figured to just wait until she met up with Cloud and then asked for permission to use theirs. Throw wasn't a Materia Faith had ever used in the game, but she refrained from selling it for now. Beggars couldn't be choosers and she didn't have a lot of Materia to choose from. She knew the Long Range Materia was in the Mythril Mines, so she would pick that up to give to Cloud. And the Choco/Mog Summons was at the Chocobo Farm, which Faith would grab if she turned out to be leaving for Midgar.

She moved on to pick up all the items she could remember being in the area, ignoring the two 1/35 Soldier items and equipping the Enemy Skill Materia from the Beginners Hall. She drank all of the Sources, seeing as Yuffie's only powerful stat was Dexterity, and hoped it would give her an advantage in the future. Finding the items were a great relief to Faith because it meant that Cloud and the others hadn't passed through yet.

Her next destination was the bar. Maybe it was just instilled into her by movies and games, but Faith believed that you could always hear the latest gossip in bars. After a half-an-hour, a particularly drunk infantryman began rambling loud enough for the whole establishment to hear.

"That's right, a former First Class SOLDIER!" The Shinra grunt called out, getting the attention of everyone in the room, his more sober comrade trying to quiet him down. "Can you believe it? They sent us, a bunch of Troopers, after a First! We didn't stand a fuckin' chance." The man complained even louder, his nasally voice giving Faith a headache. "Don't matter that he's got some body with him who's sick, it sure ain't slowing the bastard down any. HQ thinks he'll be at Midgar within the week."

And that was all Faith needed to hear. Zack was still alive at this point, running away from Shinra with a comatose Cloud in tow.

She could still save him.

Faith waited a few minutes after finishing her meal and left the behind a 30 Gil tip, since she had no idea how to figure out gratuity in this world. From the bartender's broad smile and appreciative nod though, she guessed she'd given him a little too much. '_Meh, what's 30 Gil? The only thing that costs any real money is items and Materia. Compared to that, food and clothes were cheap as hell._' She took the elevator back down to Junon, sparing a few minutes to search for Priscilla, hoping to get the Shiva Summons Materia early, but wasn't able to find her down at the beach like in the game.

Knowing she'd make contact later, Faith left the little village and headed east towards her next destination.

~Identity Crisis~

Faith eyed Fort Condor in annoyance, her exhaustion taking its toll and making her want to collapse where she stood. She'd never done so much physical work in her entire life. The trek from Junon to Fort Condor was a hell of a lot longer than the game had made it seem.

The monsters hadn't been too bad, especially since she'd had Cure now to take care of any injuries. Of course, Faith hadn't managed to get away from those battles unscathed. She had been scratched, bitten, poisoned, blinded, silenced, and left bruised all over. Her limbs and joints were sore from the abuse and cried out for rest. Faith guessed that her resistance to injury followed that of Advent Children; there was realism in the combat that definitely hadn't existed in the original Final Fantasy VII game.

There was no question that she was a lot more durable than a normal person though.

Using Materia was a very tiring experience too and Faith could feel a headache developing right behind her eyes. She supposed it was a sign that she was running low on MP, but Faith couldn't be sure. There hadn't been any adverse effects when using Magic in the game, but then the characters hadn't ever needed to eat either.

It was almost night time though, the sun was but a few rays in the horizon and Faith was dead on her feet. All she wanted to do now was lie down and sleep for the next year and a half. The man at the entrance of the Fort, the one guarding the rope, must have noticed her sorry state because he didn't even bother to check if she were Shinra or not. Climbing up the rope was a pain in the ass since Faith had already felt so damn tired and she'd called down to the guy, telling him to get some fucking stairs.

The asshole merely laughed in response.

Once she made it to the top, Faith groaned miserably as she spotted the rope ladder she had to climb to reach the next level. An old man by the well, the leader and who currently had the Huge Materia if Faith remembered correctly, spoke to her briefly, giving her the sad spiel about the Condor and what Shinra was trying to do. '_God, he's worse than the animal activists back home._' She thought wryly as the man continued his preaching.

"Look, fine, whatever. I'll give you 300 Gil; it's all I can spare at the moment." Faith interrupted wearily. She'd had a little over 150 Gil left from her shopping in Junon and had made about 2,000 what with her battles, but she wasn't willing to fork over all of her hard earned cash, especially when it didn't even matter at this point.

"Oh thank you, thank you so much! This will definitely help with buying some much needed provisions." The old man praised as Faith handed him the small wad of cash. '_Everything is so damn expensive in this world._' "Please, feel free to use one of the beds on the lower level." She muttered a sleepy thanks and stumbled to where she knew the beds were, cursing at the ladder she had to climb down. Seeing the nearest bed, Faith gave a blissful sigh and collapsed on top of it, not even bothering to set down her bag or take off her shoes.

She was asleep within seconds…

"**Hey…**"

"…"

"**Hey!**"

"…_Huh?_"

"**Get out!**"

"_What?_"

"**Get–**"

"Miss, are you alright?" Faith felt herself jerk sharply, half rising from where she was as she scratched her head. There was a sharp ringing in her ears, but the sensation was already beginning to fade. She blinked blearily at the face in front of her, not recognizing him.

"I'm sorry?" She asked, rubbing a hand over her face and biting back a yawn. The unknown man chuckled, adjusting the pack on his back since it was starting to fall.

"Are you alright? You seemed to be having a bad dream." Faith looked down at her bed, finding a familiar shuriken resting at her feet and that her bag had toppled over onto the floor. '_So it wasn't a dream after all. Fuck._' She quickly pushed back the heaviness that came with the thought of never going back home and focused on what the man had said.

"I was?" She mused curiously and he nodded. "Huh, well I don't remember dreaming anything, mustn't have been so bad then." Stretching her arms, Faith gave a happy sigh as she felt something pop. '_Looks like the game logic is applying itself again, sleeping apparently heals everything. I feel great!_' She did too, her muscles didn't ache from yesterday's exertion and the exhaustion was completely gone. "Thanks for waking me up, buddy!" She chirped towards the man who was now settling down on one of the other beds.

"No problem kid." He replied, tucking himself under the covers. Taking the hint, Faith quietly gathered her things and made her way out of Fort Condor, stopping to talk briefly with the old man and buying some granola bars to eat as she promised to return soon. The only free Materia in the area was the Phoenix Summons and that wouldn't be available until after the WEAPONs arrived.

Marching northeast towards the Mythril Mines, Faith only ran into a few more monsters that proved to be no trouble at all. She'd probably leveled up since yesterday after one of her many battles. The hike from Fort Condor to the Mines wasn't long, likely two hours at the most, and the morning light felt warm against her skin. Entering the Mines however, proved that the terrain was very different from outside.

It was cold, dark, and filled with monsters.

Faith huffed as she brought up her arm-gauntlet to block the Iron Ball attack of a Madouge, but it still managed to knock her down to one knee. Suddenly, Faith felt incredibly empowered and a glow of red seemed to shoot out from her body. She rushed forwards, slashing at the Madouge and jumped back to hit it again, leaving it to disappear in a stream of green energy. '_Huh, so that's what using a Limit Break is like._' The rest of the battle quickly ended after that and Faith used Cure to heal her newly acquired bruises, sighing in relief as they faded away.

With her Enemy Skill Materia, she managed to learn Flamethrower from an Ark Dragon and picked up all the items in the cave, drinking the Mind Source. Faith had a bit of trouble with the Castanets, since they traveled in the largest groups or occasionally fought with an Ark Dragon, but the Gil and experience she'd earned from the grueling battles was well worth it. She even managed to use Greased Lightning two more times before exiting the cave. Thankfully the mine was small, so traversing through was fairly easy, even if it was swarmed by monsters.

The relief of being outside quickly evaporated as Faith remembered that she'd forgotten about one very important thing, the Midgar Zolom.

"Fuck, what the hell do I do now?" Faith asked herself angrily as she stared out over the swamp. Again, the scenery was much bigger than the game had made it seem. She guessed it to be a couple miles long in both length and width, since she couldn't see anything beyond the marsh. She knew in the game that if you ran from the Midgar Zolom you were sent to just outside of the swap, but she really didn't want to risk it.

Faith looked over the mountains enclosing the marsh, eyeing them with dislike. She'd never been any good at rock climbing, but it looked like she didn't have any other choice in the matter.

The game had prevented the party from climbing mountain terrain without a Mountain Chocobo, but it didn't seem to apply in this situation. Faith spent the rest of her day scaling the steep cliffs, fighting off the occasional monster that found her, and doing her best to not fall into the snake infested swap below. She was spotted by a Midgar Zolom at one point, but it left her alone, probably figuring going after her would be too much of a hassle.

She only made it about halfway through the mountains by the time dusk came and was forced to setup the Tent she'd found earlier in the Mythril Mines. For whatever reason the Tent seemed to repel the monsters, but Faith didn't question it and decided to use her new number one explanation for matters like these.

Game logic.

Before going to bed, she checked over her items to see what she'd managed to collect for the day. Her Gil, which had been a total sum of 1,698 after leaving Fort Condor, was now raking in at 4,530. Her four Potions had almost tripled in numbers, bring her to nice even total of ten. She also had five Hi-potions, two Ethers, and one Phoenix Down. Her Materia had gotten in some good uses too, but Faith had no idea how much more AP she would need to make any of them level up. Maybe Sense worked on Materia too?

Even though the monsters stayed away from her Tent, Faith still had a hard time getting to sleep that night. She woke up at the slightest noise and the hard ground didn't allow her the chance to get comfortable. In the morning, when she exited her Tent, she wasn't sure if she expected the item to just disappear or not.

After waiting a few minutes though, the Tent stayed where it was and Faith found herself being attacked by a Formula. She guessed that whatever had warded off the monsters stopped working after using the item once, essentially making the Tent a normal piece of fabric. After defeating the Formula, she decided to leave the Tent behind, seeing no point in carrying it with her since she planned to rest at the Chocobo Farm that night.

By now though, her stomach was growling for something to eat. She'd finished off the last of her granola bars from Fort Condor last night. Mentally promising to keep food on her person at all times in the future, Faith headed continued through the mountains.

It took more than a few hours; Faith guessed it was around 2 in the afternoon, when she finally reached the grasslands bordering the mountains and swap. She didn't know exactly how far away the Chocobo Farm was, or its' exact location, but she made it her goal to reach the farm before nightfall. Along the way Faith ran into groups of Levrikons, Elfadunks, and Mus. She didn't see any Chocobos, but that was likely because she didn't have the Chocobo Lure. She did manage to learn L4 Suicide from a Mu and also got to use her Limit Break again.

It was still light out when Faith finally found the Chocobo Farm and she eagerly ran up to the Chocobo closest to the picket fence.

"Alright let's see, how do I get a Summons Materia out of you again?" She asked the giant bird that pecked at the ground, paying her no attention. "Wark!" She mimicked the creatures' call as best as she could, actually succeeding in getting the Chocobos' attention.

"_Wark? Warkwark wark?_" It responded and she smirked.

"Wark." The bird peered at her curiously for a second before it, and the other three Chocobos that were fenced in, began to dance. It was actually really cool to see them pull off their synchronized performance, which realistically shouldn't have been possible, not unless Chocobo Bill went out of his way to train them to do it. Again, game logic seemed to be the most acceptable answer.

Faith watched the birds do their little jig, humming the Waltz de Chocobo song since it wasn't spontaneously playing overhead like it had in the game. The Chocobos seemed happier at least at hearing her slightly off-key song. When they finished the Chocobo she'd talked to let out a happy squawk.

"_Wark-_" It lent forward over the fence, a shiny Red Materia in its' beak and Faith held out her hands to catch the Summons. '_How the hell did it get this Materia anyways? Did it swallow the Summons at one point and just… regurgitated it now?_' Faith paused at that thought and eyed the spit covered Materia in her hands '_Ugh, that's disgusting!_' Frowning, she thanked the Chocobo by its head with her soiled hand, making it warble appreciatively. She then found Chocobo Bill and paid for some dinner and a bed to sleep in for the night.

When she woke up the next day, Faith asked about Chocobos and how to take care of them, making polite small talk with the farmer and his family as they ate breakfast. Like in the game, there weren't any available stalls so she couldn't get her own Chocobo just yet. Bill tried to sell her the Chocobo Lure Materia, but Faith turned him. She didn't need it at the moment and she didn't want to spend any more Gil than she needed to. Faith left soon after, buying two apples for the road and briefly petted the Chocobo from yesterday.

The flat meadows were very much appreciated after spending two days in the mountains. As the day progressed, the Elfadunks and Levrikons were replaced with Mandragoras and Kalm Fangs, letting Faith know that she was getting closer to Midgar. She stopped by the river around midday to rest and rehydrate herself, eating her meager lunch and hoping to better stock her food supplies at Kalm.

Kalm's size, as to be expected, was a little bit bigger than the game portrayed, but besides some extra houses, a couple of farms, and a few more commerce shops, it wasn't anything that Faith felt the need to check out. She headed to the pub first, ate a large dinner and managed to pick up the items hidden in the townhouses. After downing the Guard Source she found, Faith went to the town Inn, making sure to grab the Megalixir, and paid 20 Gil for a room.

The Inn had a total of five bedrooms and one public bathroom. For the first time in three days, Faith was able to properly clean herself, not just the quick wipe down she'd given herself at ponds and rivers. It felt gross to go so long without bathing, but that just seemed to be the way things worked in Gaia. Fortunately, the staff was washing her clothes for her too, though it had cost Faith an extra 10 Gil that she'd happily paid.

After all, cleanliness is right next to godliness.

As Faith stepped out of the shower a flash of blue caught her eye and she turned, finding herself staring at her reflection in the bathroom's mirror. Seeing Yuffie instead of her regular face was jarring, but as she took a closer look, Faith saw that she had blue eyes. More specifically they were _her blue eyes_, the ones she was born with. She stared into them avidly, cherishing the sight of something familiar.

She'd always thought her eyes were her best feature.

Faith decided to turn in early for the night. She had no idea just which cliff Zack was supposed to die on while defending Cloud from hundreds of Troopers, so she would head out early in the morning and scout over the area.

From this point on she had to be on high alert. Zack's life depended on it.

~Identity Crisis~

It wasn't until three days later after arriving in Kalm that Faith got word of Zack. A group of Troopers had scouted the town for him, reports saying that two SOLDIERs had been seen in the area matching Zack's and Cloud's descriptions. Unfortunately, Faith still hadn't managed to find the right cliff. She'd been scouring the wasteland bordering Midgar almost nonstop, but had nothing to show for her efforts except for learning Matra Magic from a Custom Sweeper and earning a shitload of Gil.

She left town once the Troopers had moved on, searching desperately for her quarry and running across the wastelands as swiftly as Yuffie's body would allow. At this point she was just ignoring monsters; simply launching Fire spells to distract them before running away.

When it started raining, Faith knew she had to hurry.

She smelt it long before she saw it; a copper tang poisoned the air, along with other nasty smells, making her gag. The ground was covered with broken swords, discarded helmets, and ruined guns. Blood stained the wet dirt, and the ground itself was covered in cuts and craters, as if something had cleaved through the terrain. There were a few bodies scattered about, but they were quickly breaking down into familiar green particles. Faith distantly realized that they were returning to the Lifestream.

The gore was too much for her to handle, especially since the worst wounds she'd seen so far were her own. The monsters disappeared too quickly after she'd killed them to see what sort of damager her Shuriken had caused and for whatever reason their blood had never clung to the weapon. Faith turned away from scene, her stomach emptying itself against her will.

Inwardly, she laughed at herself. How many times had she seen people react this way in movies and sworn that she would have been able to keep her cool?

Faith slapped herself, the harsh sting giving her something else to focus on. She needed to find Zack, now was not the time to be falling apart. And then she noticed the rain had stopped and that the sun was beginning to break through the clouds.

She'd run out of time.

She continued deeper into the battlefield, remembering that Zack had been surrounded by the carnage in Crisis Core when he'd died. Not even a few minutes later, she found him. Just like the ending cutscene, he was laying down on a cliff that overlooked Midgar, which was probably just a few miles away. Faith rushed forwards, noting that his Buster Sword wasn't in sight, but paid it little attention. Zack hadn't started dissolving into the Lifestream yet and until she saw those green particles, then there was a chance she could save him.

"Fuck, fuck!" Faith dropped her bag and scrambled to grab the Phoenix Down. "Don't you fucking die on me Zack!" She tossed the red and orange feather at the fallen SOLDIER, watching as it burst into green lights that dissolved into Zack's chest. When nothing happened she cursed. "Fuck you game logic! What, Phoenix Downs only work when in the heat of battle? That's bullshit!" Zack didn't react, but he hadn't disappeared yet either.

Mind searching for a solution, Faith suddenly thought about all the medical shows she'd seen and how they'd used those electric paddles to jumpstart a person's heart after cardiac arrest. She pulled out the Lightning Materia from where it was equipped on her shuriken and held it in her right hand, giving it a considering look. She'd never held back when using Materia before, but Faith knew she would have to now if she didn't want to fry Zack.

She quickly took her shuriken to cut through the fabric of Zack's shirt and tore off her leg warmers to wipe away the rain and blood from his bullet ridden chest. '_Okay, you can do this Faith, just a spark, that's all Zack needs._' She laid her right hand on his bare chest, ignoring the gore and focusing on the Materia clenched in her fist. '_Just a little jolt, that's all you need to do._'

Slowly breathing out, Faith activated the Materia.

Zack's body jerked a little, much like how it happened on those medical shows and Faith dove forward to check for a pulse while her other hand hovered over his mouth and nose, waiting for a puff of air to hit her skin.

Nothing.

Rather than letting that deter her, Faith tried again, sending a slightly stronger bolt into his chest. His back arched off the ground and a gasp broke free from his mouth. Heart racing frantically, Faith saw his chest slowly rise up and down. She began casting Cure over and over again, hoping it would slow the bleeding and used an Ether to restore her MP when she stared to feel dizzy.

Faith held back on giving Zack a Hi-potion; she didn't want the bullet holes to close over as the ammo would have to be removed from his chest. Right now, she was just banking on the Mako in Zack's system to keep him alive.

She tore off her headband and wrapped it around his chest, quickly cutting her already stained leg warmers and adding them to his chest as well. The makeshift bandages were quickly dyed a dark red color and Faith cast another set of Cure spells before bending down to lift Zack up. She brought his right arm over her shoulders and heaved, buckling a little under his weight as she adjusted his limp form to carry him piggyback style.

Faith silently thanked whatever higher power out there that Yuffie was in such good shape. She never would have been able to lift Zack in her own body. Just as she began to head out, a white feather flew in front of her face and if her hands hadn't already been full, Faith would have grabbed it. She shot a look up at the sky and saw nothing, but knew better than to trust her eyes.

"Sorry Angeal, but Zack's not ready to join you just yet." Without sparing another second, she took off in a run, heading towards Kalm. It was slow going and she checked on Zack's condition every few minutes, using Cure whenever his breathing began to slow or become irregular. They didn't run into any monsters on the way to town, which was odd since they'd likely smelt all the blood Zack was shedding. Faith liked to believe that Angeal was keeping them at bay.

Needless to say, they're arrival in Kalm caused quite the scene.

The only doctor in town was an older man who lived in the middle house where an Ether had been kept in a cabinet on the second level. Faith ignored the small crowd that had gathered around her and rushed to his house.

He took one look at Zack before ushering her inside, directing Faith to lay him on the spare bed on the upper floor. The doc's dog, who'd unfortunately been named Fido, sniffed at her and Zack curiously before the old man put him in the downstairs closest so that he wouldn't get in the way. '_Huh,_ _guess that sort of explains why Cloud found the dog there in the game._'

"Good heavens child! Where did you find this poor boy?" The old doctor, Faith believed the townspeople called him Tot, asked as he began to unwind Zack's bloodied bandages. She noticed that while her hands seemed to be trembling, much like the rest of her body, Tot's hands were perfectly still and seemed to know exactly what they were doing.

"In the wastes, just outside of Midgar." She answered quickly, desperately trying to ignore the blood that had soaked through her clothes and clung to her back. "Can you help him?"

"This lad wouldn't happen to be one of the ex-SOLDIERs those Troopers were searching for, would he?" The doc said instead, clearly having seen the SOLDIER symbol on Zack's belt. Faith froze; she hadn't thought that anyone would sell them out to Shinra. "Easy child, I may have been born in Midgar, but I have no love for the place." Tot continued after seeing her expression. "I only ask because if he is SOLDIER, then I'll need to perform surgery immediately before the Mako in his body heals these bullet holes over."

"…Yeah, he's a SOLDIER alright." Faith answered with a small smile. Zack had always been proud about being a member of SOLDIER. Tot returned the gesture, thought it was a little strained, and the nodded towards the bathroom.

"It would be best to clean yourself off. While there's less than 5% of Mako in every SOLDIERs blood, it's dangerous to be in direct contact with such large amounts for an extended period of time. There should be some spare clothes in that chest in the corner; they used to belong to my wife so they'll be a little big on you." Tot was already putting on a pair of surgical gloves and a mask, pulling out a pair of tweezers as he turned his attention to Zack.

"Thanks Doc, call me if you need anything. I got a few good Cures left in me." He nodded, but was clearly focused on his job. Faith silently moved over to the formerly mentioned chest and found it full of floral dresses. Picking out a dark blue one covered in white lilies, she moved over to the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

As Faith stepped out of Yuffie's clothes, she wondered if any of them were salvageable. Her headband and leg warmers were gone to her and she'd most likely have to get new shorts. Her arm-gauntlet looked easy enough to clean, as did the Carbon Bangle, but she had no idea if the blood would come out of her gloves, shoes, and shirt.

The shower was blessedly hot and Faith was learning to be grateful for things that she'd taken for granted back in her world. Here, while out in the wild, she could only freshen up by using rivers and the like. Hygiene wasn't a major issue in the grand scheme of things. Faith scrubbed at her back rigorously to get rid of the blood and the draining water was dyed pink as a result.

Her thoughts turned to Zack, who would hopefully be okay, and what his survival meant for the storyline. He was supposed to be dead after all. Now that he was alive he'd likely join Cloud and the others to stop Sephiroth, but what did that mean for Cloud's fucked up memories. He hadn't even remembered that Zack existed until he gone back to Shinra Mansion after regaining his memories from the Lifestream.

Would Zack being alive cause Cloud to confront the fake identity he'd made for himself sooner? Would he think of himself as a Sephiroth Clone again or would Zack be able to keep him grounded? If the latter happened, how would Sephiroth get his hands on the Black Materia? Faith groaned, this "changing things for the better" plan was quickly becoming a complicated pain in the ass.

Faith stepped out of the shower after making sure that she was squeaky clean and ruffled Yuffie's short hair unhappily. She'd always preferred having long hair, her bangs grown out and out of the way. Some of Yuffie's bangs kept flopping into her eyes and Faith realized that the headband had been more than just a fashion statement. She briefly studied her reflection in the bathroom mirror, taking in her eyes, feeling unusually grateful to have kept something so familiar.

Tearing her gaze away from the flecks of bright blue, Faith pulled on the borrowed dress. It was a little big, but would do just fine since she just planned to sleep in it anyways. She'd always been short, standing in at 5'1". Yuffie was just an inch taller, which was why Faith guessed she hadn't had such a difficult time adjusting to the new body. She exited the bathroom; her ruined clothes stuffed in her bag, and turned to Doctor Tot.

"Need any help?" He sent her a thankful look before rattling off what needed to be done in order to get Zack back on his feet.

~Identity Crisis~

Whew, there's chapter 1 and damn was it long. I don't think I've ever made the first chapter in any of my stories this long before. In fact, their usually the shortest chapter because I hop right into the first major situation and then branch out in the following chapters.

I realize that this story may not have so many reviews due to popularity, but I really just wanted to right this down. Final Fantasy VII is the best game ever in my opinion so I was happy I got to do this. I actually really don't like Yuffie, so the fact that I'm using her like this at all is sort of like a challenge directed at myself. This is going to be a sort of serious fic, but they'll be humor thrown in to.

Doctor Tot is an actual character from Final Fantasy IX.

~Hexalys~


	2. Midgar

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review!

Okay, as far as for what this story will cover, I plan to make references to Crisis Core and end with Advent Children. I know of the two spin-off games, Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus, but I've played neither. If I do make any references to the games, it will be from sources such as Wikipedia. I don't plan on extending the story into Dirge of Cerberus unless I feel like I absolutely need to, seeing as everyone, besides Vincent, only play supporting roles. The situation really depends on how this story will progress.

Okay, now that the explanations are done with, we can commence with the next chapter!

~Identity Crisis~

Chapter 2: Midgar

Faith woke up to the sound of beeping. It was a steady, little noise, but so incredibly vital that she wanted to laugh at how downplayed the sound made the situation seem. She turned over onto her side, focusing on the form in the other bed that stood no more than five feet away. She'd volunteered to take the couch last night, but Tot wouldn't hear of it. The beeping continued and it both eased and worsened her dislike towards the repetitive sound.

She slowly pushed herself out of the bed, adjusting the oversized dress, and approached Zack's side. He looked so much better than when she'd found him yesterday. The blood had been washed away, fresh bandages covered his chest, and some color had returned to his skin. It almost made Faith think that he was going to be alright, but Tot had told her the truth after eight grueling hours of trying to heal Zack.

He was in a coma.

It was funny in a very bitter and ironic way. Cloud had awakened from his own sleep just as Zack had slipped into a similar state. Doctor Tot had questioned her about Zack's condition when she'd first found him. Faith had explained what she'd done, of how she'd used the Lightning Materia to restart his heart.

Tot had both scolded and praised Faith for her ingenuity, but stressed that she should never attempt such a thing again, as she could have shocked herself too. Zack's brain had gone without oxygen for an unknown period of time. Tot theorized that the only reason Zack was still alive after such an event was because of the Mako in his body. There was no way to tell when Zack would come out of his coma, or to what extent the damage might be.

Faith brushed aside the lone bang that fell into Zack's face. This was not what she'd been expecting when she'd pulled him away from the Death's door and brought him to Tot. Faith had expected Zack to bounce back, full of energy and determination, just like he always had in the game. Now he just slept, oblivious to the world. A cynical thought came to her in that moment and it was so insensitive that it made Faith cringe. '_At least I don't have to worry about the storyline at this point._' She deserved to get smacked upside the head for that one.

"Oh good, you're awake." Faith turned to see Tot approaching her and Zack with a clipboard in hand. The old man sported large bags under his eyes and Faith realized guiltily that he'd likely foregone sleeping last night, monitoring Zack's vitals instead. "He's doing better than most people, no thanks to the Mako, but it was a little touch and go at some points." She grimaced at that gross understatement, remembering how Zack's lungs had given out halfway through surgery and they'd had to use a resuscitation bag for an hour before his lungs started working again.

"How long do you think the coma will last, Doc?" She asked softly as she studied Zack's relaxed face. No doubt he needed the rest after all the shit he'd been through, but Faith wished it was something more natural than this.

"Nothing's changed since my last prognosis; he could wake up in two days or two years for all I know. Fortunately, he's recovering well enough physically, and even if he doesn't wake up for years, there will be no atrophy as the Mako will preserve his body." Tot gave a tired sigh, his slumped back folding in on itself a little more. "I hate to bring this up now, but… the medical care he needs is expensive. The few blood packets I have aren't going to be enough. I'll need to order more from Midgar, the shipment expenses alone will cost–"

"I've got about 14,000 Gil on me now Doc." She offered quickly and he looked relieved, obviously expecting Faith to say that she didn't have any money. All she'd been doing since she'd arrived in Kalm four days ago was fight monsters while looking for Zack's cliff. With nothing but food and the Inn to spend her money on, her funds had accumulated to quite a bit.

"7,000 should cover all the work that I've done for him so far and I can recommend a decent hospital that will–" Faith held up a hand, cutting the doctor off again. "No hospital then, I don't suppose this has anything to do with why Shinra is after the lad?"

"He's a loose end, knows things he shouldn't." She explained easily and Tot frowned in response, apparently knowing just how fucked up Shinra could be. "I need to ask another favor from you Doc, and I'm sorry because you've already done so much for me, but can you watch over Zack?" He gave her a look and Faith continued, hoping to convince him before he could refuse. "Of course I'll pay you for taking care of him, but I can't trust anyone else at this point and I can't take care of him myself."

"Oh? And where are you going to go?" Tot asked, crossing his arms and looking more like a concerned parent than anything else. It was a little heartwarming if Faith was being honest with herself. As it was, she just rolled her eyes at the man.

"Midgar." He heaved in a sharp breath at that, looking more than ready to argue. "Shinra was looking for two SOLDIERs, I have to go after the other one and make sure he's okay." It was silent for a few moments, the only sound coming from that damn heart monitor that Tot had found buried in a dusty chest. It was old and outdated, just like the rest of the equipment Tot used, but it did the job.

"Why help them? You're Wutai; you don't even try hiding it, so why help a pair of SOLDIERs and risk putting yourself in danger?" Faith gave him a funny look before answering.

"First off, I would never leave someone this injured out there to fend for themselves, even if that person was Rufus Shinra himself." Of course, Rufus turned out to be in ally later in the game, but Tot didn't know that. She totally would've left Hojo out there though. "Secondly, this guy used to go on dangerous treasure hunts for me when I was a kid." True enough, even if Yuffie had tried to steal the items that Zack rightfully earned. "Thirdly, the past is the past and I can't blame every person in Shinra for what was done to Wutai." Well, that at least sounded good, though Yuffie would strongly disagree. Tot gave a tired sigh, one that sounded like defeat and he nodded his head, making Faith fist pump.

"Very well, I'll watch over the lad, but I'll need to order more supplies and that–"

"Costs money, I know. No worries Doc, I'll pay for it all. In fact," Faith turned to her bag and pulled out her Gil, handing it all over towards the man who'd saved Zack's life. "Here, it's all I have right now. I'll be back soon though, so expect more." Tot openly gaped at the armful of cash; she'd hopefully given him more than enough to cover whatever he needed to order.

"I don't need this much all at once." He started, separating the some bills from the pile and giving them back to Faith. "5,000 Gil is more than enough to cover future costs until your next visit, I should have a list of expected outlays set up by then." Tot said, leaving her with 2,314 Gil. Faith took it back happily, knowing she would need the money to buy some new clothes. "Do you have a PHS?" He asked and she shook her head. "There's a shop down the street that sells them, I'll need your number to let you know if there's any change in his condition."

"I'll get that now then, as well as some new clothes." Tot nodded in agreement and turned his attention towards Zack. Faith used the bathroom to freshen up and silently snuck off, the beeping of Zack's heart monitor somehow echoing in her ears. As she walked through town towards the clothing store, a few of the villagers pointed at her, whispering to each other. Hopefully her arrival with Zack would blow over soon; she didn't need Shinra looking for her just yet.

Faith walked out of the store twenty minutes later and 150 Gil lighter. She adjusted the arm-gauntlet, oddly glad to have it back in place. Out of Yuffie's outfit, only the shirt had been salvageable. She now had a pair of black shorts that were a little longer that the ones Yuffie had, sporting a few extra pockets. She'd bought a pair of dark green sneakers and fingerless gloves that matched her shirt in color. She'd also gotten rid of the metal bracer on her left thigh, finding it pointless and distracting.

A simple white sash acted as her new headband and she'd added an addition to the outfit, a long black scarf that faded into green at the end. She wrapped one end around her neck, carrying the fabric over a few times to make sure it wouldn't fall off, while the other end trailed down her back, ending at her shins. It made her think of the half cape that Lighting wore in Final Fantasy XIII. From where the scarf rested, Faith could raise the fabric up to cover her mouth, which would be helpful later since she remembered a lot of monsters having breath attacks that caused status aliments.

Hefting her bag over her shoulder, Faith continued down the street to the PHS store, loving the new scarf that breezed behind her. As dorky as it sounded, it made her feel cool. The store had several different models for her to choose from, so she went with a sleeker type that had come out last year, paying the 500 Gil and getting the Shinra minute plan.

Before heading back to Tot's place, Faith stopped by the Materia Shop and bought an Earth Materia, leaving her with 164 Gil. She went to the food market and picked up some traveling fuel, a dozen ration bars and some bottled water, bringing her to a measly sum of 108. Faith had her breakfast with Tot, all the while trying to ignore the light beeping sound from upstairs. She traded phone numbers with the man before saying her goodbyes.

"Take care of yourself, alright Faith?" Tot said and she gave the man a smirk.

"Hey, no worries Doc, I got this in the bag. Oh that reminds me, I almost forgot to give this back." She pulled out the dress Tot had let her burrow, handing it over gently as he took it with a small smile. "Thanks for everything and please, take good care of Zack." She said seriously and he nodded.

"You ain't going to say goodbye to the lad?" Faith shook her head and made her way out the front door, pausing only to give Fido a brief pat on the head.

"Nah, I'll be back soon enough anyways." She said lightly before waving one last time and closing the door behind her. The truth was that Faith wasn't sure what she should say to the coma ridden SOLDIER. It wasn't like Zack would even know who she really was; at best, he would recognize her as Yuffie.

Just before leaving Kalm, she checked over her Materia. She had her new Earth Materia placed in the single slot on her Carbon Bangle, with her Restore and Enemy Skill resting in the linked slots. On her weapon Faith had the Lightning, Fire, and Choco/Mog Summons equipped, leaving the Throw and Long Range Materia in her bag. The side pockets of her new shorts were big enough to hold one Potion each, which Faith took advantage of, knowing she wouldn't have time to search through her bag in the heat of battle.

Reaching the edge of the town, Faith nodded at Kalm once and headed towards Midgar, ready to meet up with Cloud and the other members of AVALANCHE. As she broke into a slight run, an odd realization suddenly came to her. '_Who would've ever thought that I would become a terrorist?_'

~Identity Crisis~

Faith stared, not in shock, but in something akin to disbelief and wonder.

Getting into Midgar had been ridiculously easy, especially with Yuffie's ninja-like abilities. She'd scaled the wall that separated the wastes from the metropolis and landed in the Train Graveyard where monsters ran amuck. Shinra seriously needed better security than just a simple fence made of concrete; it was no wonder the slums were ridden with monsters.

She'd taken her time and killed the creatures that were dumb enough to attack her; they were easy compared to the enemies in the Junon Area, and scored some much needed Gil. Faith decided not to grab the items in the area, feeling that scaling the trains wouldn't be worth her time when Cloud would eventually comb through the place himself. So she'd continued to Sector 7's train station, planning on going straight to Tifa's bar and somehow weasel her way into AVALANCHE's fold.

Perhaps it was this thought of Cloud already being with Tifa that caused Faith to feel so displaced when she spotted the blonde slumped at the edge of the platform.

She hadn't expected it to be this easy, not really. With how her luck had been going recently, Faith thought for sure that she would've made it to Sector 7 just as the plate came crashing down. In something of a daze, she snuck closer, and sure enough there sat Cloud, collapsed and completely out of it. Tifa was nowhere in sight, but Faith didn't doubt that the girl would make her appearance sooner than later.

Not knowing what to do, Faith hadn't really planned anything besides getting to 7th Heaven; she hesitantly walked forwards, ignoring the Shinra employee in red who was in charge of checking the train for stragglers. A dog sat by Cloud's side, perhaps instinctively realizing something was wrong with the not-SOLDIER. In the game the Shinra employee had been attending to Cloud when Tifa had arrived, but Faith figured she could take the man's place.

"Hey, you alright?" She asked, not remembering what the employee's line had been, but Faith doubted that it really mattered in the grand scheme of things.

"… ooohhh…" Cloud groaned, the pained noise mixed with a heavy sigh.

"Oh boy, looks like you hit the bar hard last night, eh buddy?" She asked lightly. Of course she knew Cloud was recovering still, but she had to play ignorant at this point.

"Ooouugh…" He moaned, making Faith grimace slightly. Where the hell was Tifa already? As if summoned by thought, Tifa entered the station, the dog running up to bark at her. '_What's that Lassie, Cloud's been fucked five ways till Sunday?_' Tifa ran over to them, bleeding heart that she was, and went straight for Cloud, checking him over for nonexistent injuries.

"Are you all right?" She asked and Faith frowned because she'd already asked that question and had only gotten a moan for an answer. "Do you know what's wrong with him?" Tifa asked, turning to address Faith, who merely shrugged in response.

"Hangover? They're the worst when a SOLDIER manages to actually to get one." She said lazily, stuffing her hands into her pockets. Faith didn't know if Mako gave SOLDIERs a resistance to being intoxicated or not, but it was a widely believed theory in the fandom. "His head has got to be fucking killing him at this point." Tifa gave her an unimpressed look, as if to say that she wasn't being a very helpful.

"oo… uh… agh…" Cloud muttered, already sounding a bit better than he had earlier. His whole body jerked suddenly, his hands cradling his head as his face twisted in pain, the Buster Sword resting nearby. "Uh… uh… Tifa?" He seemed to struggle to get his words out, but it was a hell of a lot better than a few minutes ago. His head gave a wild jerk and Tifa leaned away, eyeing the Buster Sword with a look of recognition. "Tifa?" Cloud stood up suddenly, picking up his sword and brushing a hand through his bangs, looking perfectly fine. "Tifa!"

Tifa stared at him for a second and Cloud pulled up the Buster Sword, taking a pose as he smirked at her. Faith sent the girl a confused look. How did she not realize who he was? It's not like there were many other people sporting his hairstyle. Inwardly, Faith was doing her best to hold back her fangirl-ism, _because it_ _really_ _was Cloud and_ _ohmyfuckinggod_–

"Oh, Cloud!" Tifa half shouted in recognition and Faith had to refrain from rolling her eyes. Cloud's smirk merely widened and he hefted his sword onto his back, nodding at her a little.

"That's right. I'm Cloud." He seemed to be saying it more for his sake than anything else. In Crisis Core, when Zack had died, it had appeared like Cloud had come out of his Mako poisoning, but something must have gone wrong since yesterday to make him regress to this point. Perhaps it had been the Jenova cells, breaking down Cloud's recovered identity to make him more malleable in the future.

"Is that really you, Cloud? I never thought I'd find you here!" Tifa replied, making Faith wonder where the bartender had thought him to be. It's not like he hadn't left Nibelheim when he was fourteen to pursue a career in Midgar.

"Yeah, it's been a while." He said while brushing a hand through his bangs again.

"What happened to you? You don't look so well." Tifa questioned and Faith mentally answered her. '_Oh yeah? You try being experimented on for four years, then be in a vegetative state for another while being on the run from Shinra and we'll see how great you look at the end of it all._' Faith discreetly checked over Cloud's state; he seemed a little wobbly, which was to be expected since he hadn't walked much in the last five years. His face was pinched slightly, showing he was still in pain, and a slight tremor racked through his arms.

Considering all the shit he'd been through, he was looking pretty damn good.

His hair was spikier than it had been in Advent Children and Faith found she liked it better this way. Cloud wasn't exactly tall, he had more of an average height really, but that still meant he towered over her. His build was that of a gymnast, lean in comparison to most guys, but his physique was all muscle.

He was wearing the standard uniform for First Class SOLDIER: indigo pants with a sleeveless shirt, and a belt. He had brown boots, matching gauntlets and a pauldron over his left shoulder. In Crisis Core the designers had mistakenly made black the color of a First's uniform, but Faith much preferred the original indigo coloring. What really caught her attention though were Cloud's eyes. They were blue and they actually glowed a little!

Mako eyes, the mark of SOLDIER, Faith secretly thought they were beautiful.

"Yeah? It's nothing. I'm okay." He responded calmly, shrugging a little. '_Bullshit._' Tifa turned around and that's when Cloud went spastic, his hands shot up to grab his head as his body shook uncontrollably. Tifa didn't notice a thing; instead she focused on Faith who tried not to stare as Cloud had a mini mental breakdown. It looked a lot freakier in person.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Tifa asked and Cloud managed to pull himself together just as she glanced at him. "Do you know Cloud?"

"Me and Chocobo? I think we've met before, I remember the hair, but not the time or place." Faith lied. Of course he wouldn't know Yuffie, but Zack had and there was a chance Cloud might think he knew her if she brought it up since Jenova was fucking with his memories. Cloud had never made the connection in the game, but that was likely because Crisis Core had been made several years after Final Fantasy VII. In response to her words, Cloud closed his eyes for a few seconds before nodding.

"Yeah, I think I remember you, you sent me on some treasure hunts." Faith bobbed her head happily. Sure, this only meant that Cloud's memories were even more messed up now, but she knew it wouldn't change things in the end. If anything, it gave her the opportunity she needed to join up with AVALANCHE.

"Is that so?" Tifa said, shooting her a look before turning back to Cloud. "How long has it been?" She continued while shyly tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear. Cloud reacted to the question with another full body convulsion, gripping his head hard before relaxing his stance and carding a hand through his hair again. Tifa watched him with worry and Faith pretended to be busy petting the dog, seemingly missing his reaction.

"Five years." He answered easily and Tifa bit her lip, looking away quickly. Cloud noticed her avoiding his gaze and frowned. "What's wrong?" Tifa stared at him for a second. Faith would bet that she was inwardly debating with herself about correcting him, but Tifa just shook her head instead, giving her not-really-childhood-friend a small smile.

"...it's really been a long time." Cloud answered with a soft look and Faith sighed in relief. It would have royally sucked if her appearance had deviated the storyline at such an early point. Tifa turned towards her then, lips curved into a slight smirk. "We still haven't actually introduced ourselves yet, I'm Tifa Lockhart." The bartender held out a gloved hand that Faith shook it

Tifa's incredible bust size from the original game had been toned down a little; taking on the more proportional chest she'd had in the movie. She had long legs that added to her overall height, making her just a few inches taller than Faith. Her dark brown hair fell below her waist, tied at the tips to form a distinctive dolphin-tail split, and her eyes were a pretty reddish-brown.

She wore a white tank top and black mini-skirt with a belt and red suspenders. Her tank was cut short, displaying her midriff a little and her skirt was much the same, showing off her long legs. She also had on her Leather Gloves, which were red and black. Underneath she wore black arm warmers that extended to her elbows, with a metal elbow guard on her left elbow. Matching red boots covered her feet.

"The name's Yuffie Kisaragi, but I prefer to go by Faith." She said easily before marching over to Cloud and punching him lightly on the arm. "How you been Chocobo? I haven't seen you in years!" He tried to give her a blank look, but Faith caught his eyebrow twitching at the nickname.

"Fine, after some things that happened in… my hometown, I left the SOLDIER program and became a mercenary. I won't be staying in Midgar long before heading out again." He answered coolly while crossing his arms.

"You're leaving?" Tifa asked quickly and he nodded, not seeing the concern in her reddish brown eyes. "Wait, you said you're a mercenary right?"

"Yes, why?" He questioned and Tifa gave Faith a distrustful glance.

"Uh-oh, I know that look, that's the 'I'm into something that's very dangerous and secretive look.' Let me guess, it's so bad that if you tell me, then you'll have to kill me, right?" Tifa looked a little shocked at that and Faith grinned. "Oooohh, it is that bad! What is it?"

"Tifa, are you in any trouble?" Cloud asked, eyeing the long haired girl who looked flushed for a second before recovering her demeanor.

"How do you feel about Shinra?" Tifa asked Faith instead of answering Cloud's question. He uncrossed his arms and frowned, but didn't press the issue. For her part, Faith lost her grin and put on her most serious face she could muster.

"I hate them." Her pointblank admittance seemed to take them both by surprise. "If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm Wutai. My homeland was ruined by Shinra and my people were slaughtered in a pointless war." Tifa held her gaze for another moment before nodding. "Why?"

"I don't want to explain things out here, but I might just have a job for you both, if you're interested?" This question was directed more towards Cloud, who seemed to be thinking it over before shrugging, gesturing for Tifa to lead the way. Faith studied her surroundings as they moved through Sector 7, which was unsurprisingly, bigger than the game had let on.

"How many people live down here?" She asked Tifa, Cloud didn't seem nearly as interested as her, but he had been in Midgar for two years before the Nibelheim Incident.

"There are about three hundred people in this sector, which is around the middle in population size compared to the other sectors. Sector 6 has almost double that many while Sector 5 has less than half." Faith gave a low whistle at hearing those statistics; the game had only shown like thirteen people living in Sector 7. "Well here we are. This is my bar, 7th Heaven."

"Wait, you own a bar, at your age? You're like what, twenty?" Faith asked and Tifa nodded. '_Huh, maybe the drinking age is lower here. Guess I have no idea what standards pass as normal in this world. After all, Cloud did join the army at fourteen._'

"Well, partly owned, but Barret doesn't really have the time to help me take care of the place." Tifa continued, leading them into the bar. "Alright, what I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room. If you don't want the job then keep your lips shut and just pretend this never happened." That comment was directed solely towards Faith, who nodded in understanding. "I'm part of an anti-Shinra group called AVALANCHE."

"…AVALANCHE?" Cloud muttered to himself, brows furrowed. "I thought they were wiped out six years ago?" Now it was Faith's turn to frown. She'd heard something about AVALANCHE being the antagonists in a mobile game called Before Crisis, which had been the prequel to Crisis Core, but she'd never played it seeing as it hadn't been released in America.

"We're not the same group; all we share with the first generation is the name and the goal to save the Planet." Tifa explained further and Cloud nodded. Faith didn't know what was going on, but it wasn't really relevant at this point so she didn't bother asking. "We haven't really done anything big against Shinra just yet, but now that you two are here, we might be able to jumpstart out plans a little earlier than Barret expected."

"So this Barret guy is the leader?" Faith asked and Tifa nodded. "What's he like?"

"Who wants to know?" A rough, deep voice asked from behind Faith, who spun around in surprise. The first thing she noticed about Barret Wallace was that the man was a giant; he was easily taller than six feet. Faith felt like a fucking midget when compared to his height. The second thing she noticed was that his Gun-arm was pointed at Cloud who merely raised an eyebrow in response.

Barret was buff, showing off his torso's muscles by wearing a sleeveless dirty brown vest with no shirt underneath. He had greenish-brown cargo pants that were tucked into brown leather boots. There were several bands of metal around his waist, a fingerless black glove on his remaining hand, and a skull tattoo on his left shoulder. He had a thick beard and three scars on his right cheek. Faith also spotted a partially scorched dog-tag hanging around his neck.

"Barret this is Cloud and Yuffie, they're here for AVALANCHE." Tifa said quickly, most likely to calm the man down before he shot Cloud for his smugness.

"Faith, Tifa. I told you to call me Faith, it's my nickname." She said firmly. In reality, Faith just knew she wouldn't respond to being called Yuffie if it ever happened in the future.

"These two, in AVALANCHE? Don't look like they could fight for shit!" Barret shouted and Cloud scoffed lightly while brushing a hand through his bangs again. "What you got something to say, fool?"

"I'm a former SOLDER First Class; I can handle anything Shinra throws at me." The swordsman said arrogantly as he looked away from the group. Faith titled her head at that; Zack had never been arrogant. Sure, he bragged from time to time, but he never came off as condescending. Faith wondered where Cloud had gotten the attitude from; he sounded more like Genesis than anyone else.

"SOLDIER!? You brought Shinra here Tifa?" Barret scolded as he re-aimed his Gun-arm at an indifferent Cloud. Tifa, for her part, seemed to be floundering wordlessly, and as funny as it was to watch her get so worked up, Faith decided to settle things now before they could escalate.

"Chill Mr. T, he said _former_ SOLDIER. Chocobo here is a mercenary for hire." Sadly, the amusing reference was lost on the group. "Brickhouse," She nodded towards Tifa who frowned at the nickname, "said you're going after Shinra. And who better to have at your back than a guy who knows how the enemy works?" Barret turned to glare at her, clearly not impressed with the easygoing smile she was giving him.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be? AVALANCHE ain't acceptin' no minors." The gruff man said as he shot another distrustful glare at Cloud.

"Hey asshole, I'm not a minor and I already said to call me Faith! What, are you stupid _and deaf?_" She growled back. Because of her short height, people always assumed her to be a teenager and it annoyed Faith to no end. She was twenty-three; she was second oldest person in the room for fuck's sake! A small voice in the back of her head pointed out that Yuffie was only sixteen and was very much a kid, but the others didn't need to know that.

"Whatcha call me ya little shit?" And Barret was pointing his Gun-arm at her now. Faith made a show of reaching for the 4-point Shuriken resting unobtrusively on her arm-gauntlet. She'd discovered a few days ago that there was an area on the gauntlet made to hold her weapon, which actually made a lot of sense. It wasn't like she could put the shuriken in her bag or carry it around all the time; that just wouldn't be practical.

"Huh, I guess you really are deaf." Barret's face was just beginning to turn and interesting shade of purple when Tifa finally decided to step in.

"Enough, both of you." The warning look she sent was enough to cow Barret and Faith only stopped because she didn't feel like getting her ass handed to her by either Tifa or Barret. "You said we needed some more manpower." She patiently reminded the leader of AVALANCHE.

"Yea, but I doubt she counts as manpower." Barret grumbled sourly and Faith made a face at his back. "And Spikey here worked for Shinra, I'd take her over him any day of the week." Tifa sighed before eyeing Cloud, he didn't seem to be paying them the slightest bit attention, and gestured for the leader to follow her. Barret gave Faith a glare that clearly said 'don't move a muscle', and followed Tifa to the back of the bar.

"He seems nice." She remarked casually. Cloud shrugged at her and took a seat at one of the abandoned tables. It was only then that Faith noticed that there was no one in the bar. True, it was only midafternoon, but she'd figured there was always someone trying to get wasted in the slums.

"I don't care either way." Cloud replied after a moment and Faith joined him at the table. "If there is any work, then I only care about his Gil and how much I'll be paid."

"Spoken like a true mercenary." And there Cloud went, running a hand through his bangs again. They weren't even in his face or anything, why did he keep messing with them?

"What about you?" He asked and Faith blinked. "If there is a mission, are you going to stick around?"

"Maybe, I guess it depends on what I feel like doing. I'm more of a 'living in the moment' type of person. I don't really think ahead." She said while shrugging a little. "I might stick around or I might leave with you."

"Me?" He asked sending her a confused look and Faith grinned.

"Yeah, I mean mercenaries usually work in pairs, right? I could totally be your partner in crime!" He sent her a skeptical look. "No really, I'm pretty good. I even have a decent array of Materia. Check it out." She brought out her Shuriken and Carbon Bangle, showing Cloud her small but useful assemblage. He raised an eyebrow, but did as she asked. His eyebrows jumped to his hairline as he spotted the Choco/Mog Materia.

"You have a Summons?" He asked, eyeing the Red Materia in surprise and Faith nodded, feeling a little proud of herself. "Lightning, Fire, Earth, Restore, Enemy Skill. This is good stash." Cloud complimented before pulling out the Buster Sword, showing his own Materia. "I only have Ice and Lightning at this point, both unleveled." Hmm, Zack must have found them not too long ago if that was the case. "Where'd you find the Summons?"

"I'm actually a Materia Hunter; I search all over the world for these beauties." She said affectionately while patting the small spheres of Mako. Faith wasn't anywhere close to being obsessed with them like Yuffie, but they were cool just the same. "I actually got the Summons from a Chocobo down at the Chocobo Farm, believe it or not." From there she went on to explain how she'd squawked at the creature, getting it and a few others to perform a dance.

Near the end of her tale, Cloud was smirking and a soft chuckle escaped his lips. It made her so jubilant that Faith was determined to make him laugh again. Just as she was getting into the story of how she'd nearly lit herself on fire while using Materia for the first time, Tifa came over, a slight frown marring her pretty face.

"Okay, I talked to Barret and he says he'll take you both on the mission tomorrow. You'll get paid, but only if you're successful so I suggest taking it seriously." Faith saw Cloud nod and she followed his example, trying her damnedest to keep from smiling. She did it! She was in! She was a member of the gang!

"Thanks, I know you probably had to put in a good word for us to get him to agree." Faith replied and Cloud gave Tifa a warm smile in appreciation, much to the girl's delight. "I hate to be a pain in the ass, but do you anything to eat in this place?"

"There's some leftover stew from last night that I can reheat. Would you like some too Cloud?" He nodded and Tifa all but skipped on her way back to the bar.

"I think she likes you." Faith teased and was rewarded with a wide-eyed stare from the wannabe ex-SOLDIER. "If she were any happier, that girl would be puking rainbows." He chuckled again and Faith felt herself smile in response. Tifa had to get ready for work so she couldn't sit down with us when Cloud offered. The leftovers were actually pretty good and it took Faith longer to finish her meal as she carried most of the conversation between herself and Cloud.

He only really contributed when the topic switched to Materia.

"So I decided to buy Earth instead of Ice. It was a spur of the moment decision. I'm not sure how useful it'll be in the future, but it has one glaring weakness." Faith paused to bring a spoonful of lukewarm stew up to her mouth. "It doesn't affect any monsters that can fly or levitate. I also thought about getting the Heal Materia instead, but decided against it in the end. I'm not much of a white mage."

"You have a Restore." Cloud pointed out, smirking at her screwy logic.

"Well yeah, but everyone should have that Materia on them. It saved my butt more times than I can count." He nodded in agreement while studying the Mako sphere in her Bangle. "Here, you can borrow mine for the mission." She unequipped the Green Materia and handed it over to the surprised ex-SOLDIER. "Just this once though, you'll have to get your own after this." Her teasing smile earned a small, hesitant one in return. It was different from the smirks he'd shown so far and Faith knew it belonged to the real Cloud.

"Thanks…" He yawned, looking exhausted all of a sudden and Faith was reminded that Cloud wasn't at a hundred percent yet. It was so easy to forget that he'd suffered from severe Mako poisoning not even 24 hours ago.

"C'mon, we gotta find out where we're staying for the night." She brought her empty bowl up to Tifa with Cloud following her example. "Thanks for the food Brickhouse, it was delicious." Tifa accepted both dishes with a warm smile, her cheeks colored a light pink. "What time should I be back here tomorrow for the job?"

"Barret wants you both at the train station by 10 pm, so don't be late."

"Why not just meet up back here? Shouldn't we go over the plan or something? I don't even know what we're doing yet." Faith asked and Tifa winced.

"He said he doesn't want either of you to know what's going on, just in case your Shinra spies." Tifa made a face, obviously annoyed at Barret for being a paranoid dickhead. "He also said that neither of you can stay here for the night, but that's probably for the best. We don't have any extra beds anyways."

"No problemo, I'm sure we can find someplace to crash." She said goodbye to the bartender, avoiding the patrons who were coming in, and headed towards the Weapons Shop down the street.

"Do you know where you're going?" Cloud asked from behind, startling Faith a little. She stared at him for a moment and he looked away after a few seconds.

"Yes." She continued forwards, smirking a little at his bemused expression. Entering the Weapons Shop, she quickly walked up to the only boy there, noticing that the owner kept sending Cloud curious glances. "Hey kid, I heard you've got some extra beds on the top floor?"

"Sure do, you want to use one?" He said answered, eyes landing on Cloud. "Are you two going to share?" Despite herself, Faith felt a blush work its' way across her face. She refused to turn around to see Cloud's reaction.

"Nope, we'll need two separate beds." Faith ended up paying 5 Gil, but she could have sworn that it had only cost 1 Gil in the game. She led Cloud to the top floor and collapsed on the middle bed, Cloud took the one furthest from the door. "Night, Chocobo." It was a few minutes later when Faith heard his response.

"…Goodnight, Faith."

~Identity Crisis~

I actually give nicknames to people I like in real life and sometimes they make no sense whatsoever. I'll be messing around with nicknames for the other characters until I find something that sticks. Cloud's official nickname is obviously Chocobo, though I may use Spike on occasion.

Tifa's nickname is Brickhouse. The term comes from the song "Brick House" by the Commodores, describing a strong, sexy woman. According to official artwork, Tifa's bust-waist-hip measurements are 36-24-35 inches. A line from the song – _"36-24-36" Oh man, she's a brickhouse. Just letting it all hang out._ – fit so perfectly that I had to use it as her nickname.

~Hexalys~


End file.
